THE FOREST OF GRIEF
by Miss Lena
Summary: The first out of a set of SasuNaru fanfictions. Set in a more modern-time.


"This is exactly like before…"

Naruto's voice was quiet amongst the yelling occurring on the long walk to the cabins. He and his class from Konoha K-12 Academy - the only school in their entire village – had ventured out into the Forest on a field trip to the city outside of the Village. He had only been here once before, and that was when Uchiha Sasuke had informed him that he was running away.

_"I'm not coming back, Naruto." Sasuke's hands were shoved into his pockets, the way that they always were.  
"Ha." Naruto laughed it off as a joke, "Where can you go? You've got no money; you're living under Village boarding, just like I am. How're you going to get out of here without anyone noticing, huh? Besides, if you stay gone too long, I'll have to tell the Village authorities that you told me that you were running away, and-!" Naruto was interrupted by Sasuke's small chuckle. "What's so funny?" He hissed, "I'm being serious."  
A cicada screamed louder then Sasuke's voice and Sasuke turned to walk away. Naruto shook his head. "You won't get very far alone!" He called after him, "You'll come crawling back to the Village! You won't survive out there!"  
Another cicada screamed, only it was a sad scream. It blocked out Sasuke's words again, and Naruto found that he had an instinctive urge to chase after Sasuke; to stop him from leaving. Maybe because he knew that he would be alone without Sasuke, or maybe because he wanted to hear what Sasuke had to say?  
He stepped forward involuntarily, and when Sasuke heard his footsteps he broke out into a full-fledged run. Naruto had followed after the silhouette until what was left of Sasuke had faded from sight, and then he stood in the forest. Another cicada cried out sadly until its friends came into the chorus with it, and then it was a wail of sadness filling Naruto's ears.  
The sun had begun to peak from the trees by the time Naruto had finally made it home, and he looked behind him. Even though it was the sunniest day that he'd seen all season, he breathed in a breath of unnaturally cold air before he slunk home, his mood dropping from its normal, easy-going self to a state of inner conflict and silence._

This forest, or even this trip, was the best thing for him. He had to find Sasuke again; the conflict in his mind was killing him. Had Sasuke really left? He guessed so, because since he'd left only five days ago people had been gossiping about where he'd gone. He looked over at Sakura, who was being interrogated for information by the other girls in their class. She was frowning, shaking her head more often then talking, and he could tell that even she hadn't been the same. But Naruto knew that he had left, and knew that he was out there somewhere, which was the main difference between himself and Sakura.

Everywhere Naruto turned, he was ready to look for Sasuke amongst faces. The city would be the perfect place to do so. The fact that they were looking for the cabins when they could be waiting at the bus stop and getting to a hotel bothered him, especially with the familiar sound of the cicadas crying out to him. Maybe not directly to him, he mused as he brightened the lantern in his hand, but it seemed like it.

The group stopped suddenly, and he slammed into Chouji harshly, almost falling backwards. The overweight boy turned and grunted at him, and he stumbled back a few steps, listening to the instructions and glancing around. Their teacher, Mr. Iruka, began pairing everyone up, saying that there was enough room in the cabins for two people to share each one, and then one person would have to be alone. Naruto listened intently, hoping and praying that he'd have someone… _anyone_ rooming with him, but his prayers failed him. Iruka paired him with no one, and he had to stay in a cabin alone.

Once he was in his cabin, Naruto relit his lantern and sat on the bed, staring into space. He wanted to get to the city as soon as humanly possible; if he could find Sasuke, then maybe he could convince him to come home. He lay back on the bed, staring at the light flickering against the ceiling. The sounds of the outside world were almost deafening him. He wanted silence, and yet all he received was the repetitive sound of the cicadas, the gentle rain that had picked up when he'd first settled into his cabin, and the sound of someone tapping on his window.

"Wait… someone's at the window…?" Naruto whispered, sitting up. He has covered the window with the blinds, but thinking that it was Sakura or Iruka he pulled the blinds back. Instead of Iruka or Sakura, he found the dark gray eyes that he'd been searching for staring back at him.

Raven blue hair stuck to Sasuke's tired face. He had his arms wrapped around himself almost in embarrassment, and Naruto was shocked. There was a long moment where Sasuke just stared into Naruto's ocean blue eyes, and Naruto rushed to the door of the cabin, his heart pounding. "Sasuke…?!" He called out nervously, and yet with a hint of hopefulness that he wasn't dreaming.

Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto, and then looked away. "Hello." He grumbled.

"Ah… you can come in, Sasuke… it's raining, and Iruka said that it should pick up, and I have a towel in my suitcase that you could use to dry off…" Naruto muttered, and was relieved when Sasuke took the ten steps to get to the door, sliding his shoes off.

"I don't want to ruin the floor…" Sasuke muttered, staring at the ground, obviously embarrassed that he'd come to Naruto for any sort of help. When Naruto rushed inside to get the towel, Sasuke stepped gingerly onto the wooden floor. He shivered from the cold outside and the warmth that the lantern was letting off. Watching Naruto dig through his suitcase, Sasuke noticed that his personality had dropped from happy and enthusiastic to sorrowful and quiet. He wasn't chatting aimlessly the way that Sasuke was used to, which was both odd and comforting at the same time. He wasn't in the mood to answer questions. His eyes drifted to Naruto's hands, and he noticed that Naruto had packed one of Sasuke's shirts in his suitcase.

"My shirt…" Sasuke muttered.

"Eh…?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Your what? Oh. This?" He held up the shirt, "Well… I've been prepared everywhere I go… in case I found you… with a set of your clothes. Just in case something happened to you and you needed them…" He put the shirt back in the suitcase and grabbed the towel, tossing it at him. "And I guess it's a good thing I did. You're soaked."

Sasuke caught the towel, beginning the dry his hair. "Thank you, Naruto." He muttered, "I saw you were here alone, and I knew that you wouldn't rat on me. I would have been caught by now if you had…"

"… No problem. I knew you would come back, anyway; remember?" Naruto grew quiet, and he walked back over to the bed. "Um… come in all the way and close the door; you'll get the floor wet."

Sasuke did as requested, closing the door as silently as if Naruto had a roommate in the room sleeping. "You don't mind if I crash here for tonight, do you?" He asked carefully, "I've been staying around here, but with you guys here I can't go back to the cabin I've been living in…"

"Sure…" Naruto whispered. "I don't care. I guess it really is a good thing I brought those clothes with me here… I had almost given up on finding you. Everyone's been worried sick, and it's only been five days… but you didn't come back as soon as I thought, and-!" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who had stripped his shirt off. "What are you doing?"

"Changing." He muttered, "You brought clothes of mine, and I'll catch pneumonia if I stay in these. If it makes you nervous, don't look at me." He was blunt, and Naruto couldn't help but smile. He'd missed the bluntness that was Sasuke's personality more then he thought.

Naruto watched Sasuke walk over to his suitcase, shuffling through the bag for the navy blue shirt that he normally wore. As Sasuke pulled it over his head, he reached for the buttons on his pants and Naruto turned away. "Anyway," he continued, facing the wall, "I thought that I'd never see you again … and you know that you're my best friend, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Sasuke pulled the black sweatpants that Naruto had brought for him on, "So were you really that upset when I left? You could have taken Sakura while I was gone. God knows I'm not interested."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess… but it never crossed my mind."

Sasuke nodded, and then continued shuffling through Naruto's suitcase aimlessly for a minute, just to get a feel for exactly how prepared Naruto had been for this day. "What's this?" He pulled out a photograph that he, Sakura, and Naruto had taken when they'd been paired with Kakashi for a project, "Why carry something as trivial as this?"

"I always carry that everywhere." Naruto snapped defensively. "Put it back, and stop rummaging through my things! I said you could stay here for the night, not stick your nose where it doesn't belong!"

Sasuke did as he was told, placing the picture back in the bag without fussing and continuing to dry his hair off with the towel. "Do you have an extra blanket, since I'm not allowed to look through your things? I'll stay under the bed for the night; if Iruka finds me, I'll have to go back for sure…"

"…What? You mean… you're not coming home with us?" Naruto sounded desperate.

"No. Naturally, I'm not." Sasuke settled himself on the floor and wrapped the towel around his neck. "I'm going to get on top of the bus when it leaves tomorrow and get into the city. That's where I was headed, in the first place." Sasuke reached over and grabbed his other pair of pants, reaching into the pocket and pulling out a pocket knife, putting it into this pocket. "I've got to get out there; I've got unfinished business. But girls keep coming into the forest to look for me, so I'm stuck in a cabin every day. I saw your hair when I was hiding this afternoon and followed you because I knew you would get it."

"Well, I don't." Naruto bit his lip. "Why can't you stay? Why do you have to leave? Whatever it is you have to do, can't you do it here? Why do you have to leave for the city? Why…?" He wiped his eyes, feeling an uncomfortable, teary itch.

"It's nothing to cry about." Sasuke scoffed, "Everyone has something that they need to do. What I need to do can't be done here." Sasuke noticed the first tear fall down Naruto's face. "Stop crying, Naruto. Whether I stay or leave has nothing to do with your happiness, understand?"

"No, I don't…" Naruto shook his head, shoulders quivering. "I don't understand. But whatever, Sasuke. I don't even care, really." Naruto got underneath the covers, hiding himself completely underneath and letting the silent tears fall down his face. He suddenly felt pressure on the bed, and poked his head out from underneath the covers to find Sasuke sitting next to him.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke lay down next to Naruto, wrapping an arm around him. Embracing him, regardless of the fact that Naruto was straight. _Or am I?_ He wondered as he felt his face heat up. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Naruto. I'm grateful. I really am." Naruto pretended to be asleep, and when Sasuke climbed underneath the blankets with him he had to force himself to stay put. "There are things that I can't do here, Naruto…" Sasuke whispered, yawning lightly as he spoke, "I can't find that man here; he's out in the city somewhere. I can't get revenge for my family here…"

And the silence and warmth became too much for Sasuke, and he was asleep within seconds.

And suddenly the forest that had cause Naruto so much grief was a symbol of comfort, and the cicadas sounded glad instead of sad.


End file.
